Profile Design Altair Full Carbon Tubular 80 Bicycle Wheel Set

Tubular Wheels set are the lights and in my opinion the safest to ride.  In a nut shell if a clincher tire blows a tube you are going to hit the pavement hard! where as tubular tire has the tube sewn into the tire.  So when you do get a flat you will hear it or fell it and the tire will stay on and allow in most cases to stop the bike safely.  The Altair 80 Carbon wheel set is super high end wheel set for up to half the price as the Zipp wheel sets. My personal recommendation for tubular tires would be the Vittoira Corsa EVO CX and the Continental Competition. You might want to also consider putting anew cassette and chain you new high end carbon wheel set.

Proprietary carbon fiber 80.5mm section tubular rim

• Proprietary precision machined alloy hubs with custom depth flanges for extra stiffness
• Sapim CX Sprint spokes with hidden nipples for additional aerodynamics
• Sealed Cartridge bearings
• Hand-built assembly
• Includes brake pads, QR, valve extenders, spoke tool, extra spokes & nipples (2 front, 4 rear)
• Size: 700c x 20H Front/24H Rear, Radial front, 2X rear
• Color: UD carbon finish with colored decals, black hubs and black spokes

Weight: 1624 grams (w/o QR)

* Wheels come standard with a Shimano/SRAM compatible freehub. Campagnolo freehub option is sold separately.

Technology :

Custom rim shape manufactured with high temperature resin for better performance

Custom rim shape manufactured with high temperature resin for better performance. Using data of wind speeds from Ironman and Ironman 70.3 courses and typical age group performance, We used CFD (Computational Fluid Dynamics) software to optimize the rim shape using, for the type of real world conditions that most athletes will encounter.

• Constructed using a high temperature resin for a stronger and more resilient carbon lay-up
• UD carbon finish with additional 3K layer for added protection
• Hand-built carbon lay-up

CFD testing simulation comparison between a standard aerodynamic rim profile the proprietary Profile Design Altair 52 tubular rim profile. The smaller wake of the Altair 52 (on right) demonstrates the reduction in pressure drag over the “standard” aerodynamic rim shape.

Features :

Proprietary carbon wheel design is unique to Profile Design

• Rims profiles developed through rigorous 2 year R&D process
• Hand built construction with proprietary carbon lay-up
• Sapim bladed spokes with hidden nipples for additional aerodynamics
• Shimano/SRAM compatible  (Campagnolo compatible hub sold separately)

Custom Rim shape for better performance

• Created using CFD (Computational Fluid Dynamics) software to optimize the rim shape
• Full carbon clincher, full carbon tubular and semi carbon clincher rims in two depths
• Designed for optimized performance in real world wind conditions (yaw of 8-20 degrees)

Proprietary precision alloy hubs

• Forged 6061-T6 AL hub shells with custom depth flanges for extra stiffness
• Internal bearing and freehub surfaces CNC machined to exacting specifications
• Sealed cartridge bearings

Hand built wheel assembly

• Ensures tighter tolerances
• Creates a longer lasting and better quality build

Profiles Wheel Story :

Real World Technology. For Real World Athletes

After over two years of research and development, Profile Design is introducing a line of nine wheelsets. These new wheels are comprised of six sets of competition ready carbon fiber wheels and three sets of performance aluminum alloy wheels. All new proprietary rim designs were developed with CFD (computational fluid dynamic) software and have been field and lab tested. Each wheelset is hand built creating a longer lasting, superior quality build and ensures tighter tolerances. High-end features such as high temperature resin, proprietary carbon lay-up, sealed cartridge bearings and bladed spokes with hidden nipples are all optimized for real world conditions and real world athletes.

In twenty years of working with cyclists and athletes of all levels we’ve learned to listen the users of our products. After all, they are the ones who spend the time and effort to bring out the best in themselves. Recognizing this, we saw a need for high performance wheels for real world athletes. Many wheelsets are optimized for the highest level competitors riding at speeds which are unrealistic to amateur athletes. With that in mind, our goal was to build wheels that are designed for speed and type of conditions recreational athletes are likely to encounter during training and competition.

To accomplish this, we looked at average wind speeds and directions from various Ironman™ and Ironman 70.3™ courses around the world, which we then compared with average speeds for various levels of age group triathletes in those events. The data generated gave us a starting point for creating a rim shape and profile. Next, we gathered input from Profile Design sponsored professional and age group triathletes. From there we tested various shapes, depths, spoke shapes and hub shapes to determine the best design and build to match our performance criteria. The result is a custom proprietary wheel design that delivers superb performance, excellent reliability and is built with quality components.

All of our wheelsest are covered by a two year worldwide warranty and are backed by Profile Design’s industry leading customer service.

Profile Design is committed to athlete tested, world champion approved products. The goal of delivering a superior experience to athletes of all levels in everything we develop – from aerobars to wetsuits to wheels – underscores our commitment to our core values of innovation, quality and performance.